


Cherry Blossom Cliches

by moonrise31



Series: once, twice, and again until it's over [2]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, cheer up baby, get well soon sana, gratuitous sailor moon references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 00:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13400049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrise31/pseuds/moonrise31
Summary: In which Mina discovers that her life could very well be an anime.





	Cherry Blossom Cliches

All in all, Mina is a normal high school girl. She goes to an ordinary school, sits in a classroom learning lessons from monotonous after monotonous teacher, among her sometimes-above-average classmates. She has a patient mom and a loving dad and a stupid older brother, and dog who can't learn to stay for more than three seconds.

Mina, like many normal high school girls, also has a very normal crush.

Minatozaki Sana is in the year above, and Mina's been blushing in her presence ever since they accidentally ran into each other in the hallway a month ago and Sana had said that she liked Mina's hair. Before that single moment, Mina had already vowed to spend the rest of her first year of high school in repentant silence until her natural color grew out again (she's still not sure where that particular fit of rebellion had come from, but she makes a point to glare at her brother every time he asks her whether she's gone delinquent).

Now, though, Mina's roots have yet to grow out -- at least, if the bottle of strawberry blonde hair dye hidden in her desk drawer has anything to say about it.

(And if her brother ever finds it, she's going to kick him in the shins.)

Unfortunately for Mina, she hasn't had any more run-ins -- literally nor figuratively -- since that first day. But she contents herself with admiring from afar, sparing glances from her window seat whenever the second-year gym class is out in the yard below, or hanging back ten spots behind in the queue for bread and other snacks during lunch time. Mina honestly doesn't wish for anything more, because she knows it's just a crush, and Sana will only be here for another year or so before she's whisked out of Mina's wildly whimsical dreams forever.

So of course, their second run-in has to turn Mina on her head -- _almost_ literally.

It's the evening after one of her cram school sessions, and Mina is walking home when she hears explosions in the distance. At first she thinks that they're fireworks, and eagerly turns to scan the night sky. Instead, she catches sight of two figures dancing in the air, silhouetted by the glow of the moon.

Because yes, those two people are indeed comfortably floating meters above the tallest city rooftop, firing magical bolts and family-friendly taunts at each other every other second. And yes, Minatozaki Sana is totally one of those two people.

_Of course_ , Mina calmly thinks. Of course, her one high school crush has to be an actual _magical girl_.

(Mina makes a mental note to burn all of her Sailor Moon manga volumes once she gets back home.

Or at the very least, shove them all into the back corner of her closet, never to see the light of her bedside lamp again.)

She blinks just as Sana gets hit with a particularly nasty blast, and Mina belatedly realizes that the other girl is now hurtling towards her. She has a chance to squeeze her eyes shut just before Sana crashes into her face, sending the two of them flying backwards.

By some inexplicable miracle, Mina doesn't get knocked unconscious, even though she crashes into the ground -- Sana on top of her -- and the both of them skid across ten or fifteen meters of crummy urban asphalt. Her uniform isn't even ripped (although her mom is going to have a fit about the washing later). Still, Mina's head is spinning and her body is aching and yeah, the spot under her ribs where Sana's elbow is currently digging into is definitely going to bruise later.

(Mina will forgive her, though.)

"Sana," she mumbles as she sits up, formalities forgotten as she wonders how she's only seeing one of the other girl when the rest of her vision has definitely doubled. "Are you alright?"

Sana, for her part, looks completely immaculate as she scrambles to her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks -- wait." Her eyes widen, and she gasps. "How did you know that I'm _me_?"

"Because I've been crushing on you for the last thirty days," is what Mina almost says. Instead, she catches herself, clearing her throat before actually answering, "It's not like you're wearing a mask or anything."

"Well, yeah," says Sana. "But my hair is, you know." She reaches up and pokes at one of the two buns swirled on top of her head. "Up."

Mina blinks. "Right."

Sana leans closer all of a sudden. Mina jerks her head back instinctively, but that just makes Sana lean forward even more, maintaining their nose-to-nose distance. "Hey," the older girl says, curious, "I know you."

"You do?" Mina squeaks, head spinning from a variety of things: looking at Sana cross-eyed, the probable whiplash she's sustained from her collision with Sana, the subtle sugary scent of Sana's perfume (Sana, Mina quickly realizes, is much more overwhelming when she's not on the other side of a third-story window, or past a crowd of hungry high school students).

"Yeah, I do." Sana breaks into a grin as she straightens, at last letting Mina breathe again. "You're that cute first-year. Myoui Mina, right?"

_Well_ , Mina mournfully thinks as her inhale gets decidedly caught in her throat, _so much for breathing_. She settles for a hasty nod.

Sana opens her mouth, but jumps when the store front a few doors away is blown to pieces. "Right. Um," she jerks her thumb in the direction of the now obliterated shop, "I have something to take care of. So I'll see you at school?"

"See you," Mina manages. And the next thing she knows, she's watching her crush hop into the sky, firing bolts of magical pink from a wand Mina doesn't remember seeing at all, earlier.

(When she gets home, Mina's mom does have a fit over the state of her uniform. But that's not the reason Mina isn't able to sleep that night, ducked beneath her covers to hide her smile from the sliver of moon glowing through the crack in her bedroom curtains.

The moon stays bright, so Mina figures that Sana will be okay.)

 

-

 

Sana shows up to school as usual, seemingly unscathed, and the rest of the city is none the wiser, at least as far as the unidentified vigilante who had come to their rescue is concerned.  _She doesn't have a mask_ , Mina almost screams.  _You can literally see her face._ But maybe it's for the better that she's taken a vow of silence during school, broken only for the girl who's started to drape her letter jacket over Mina's shoulders whenever the evening gets chilly.

Because in true _deus ex machina_ fashion, Sana inserts herself into Mina's life as if she'd had a place in it from the start. But Mina will be the last one to complain, and the first one to admit that she likes having someone who leaves cute post-it notes on her desk every morning -- all the dots in every word replaced with hearts, of course -- and waits outside her classroom just to hold her hand.

The first time Sana comes home with Mina, she simply explains to Mina's mother that she's on a long-term mission to recruit Mina for the school cheerleading team next year. Which of course prompts a sudden appearance of photo albums meticulously documenting Mina's eleven years of ballet experience, and both Sana and her mother squealing over the adorable pink leotards and perfect pirouettes.

Mina hides in the kitchen while this catastrophe takes place in the living room, and her brother gives her a sympathetic look. But moments later, when Sana enters for a glass of water, Mina catches him staring at the older girl for a second too long.

She has no qualms about kicking him in the shin as she walks by on her way to her room, Sana bouncing happily after her.

 

("Hey, Minari," Sana singsongs one day, lounging on Mina's bedroom floor and pretending not to notice all of the Sailor Moon volumes piled high behind the coats hanging in Mina's closet, "you should be my sidekick!"

Mina spares her an amused glance. "I think I'd have to get some powers, first."

"Well," Sana looks back at her, blinking expectantly, "what are you waiting for?"

Mina gets a little lost in the other girl's eyes, but when Sana smiles, she staggers back into reality. "Ah. How'd you get yours?"

Sana hums, and then pats her own chest. "It just came out of here, one day."

"I see," says Mina, not surprised in the slightest. "And what do you call it?"

Sana tilts her head; Mina crosses off _"get a shiba inu"_ from her bucket list. "Call it?"

"You know." Mina shrugs. "Your power. What do you call it, even if it's just in your head?"

Sana taps her chin. "I'm not sure. I've never bothered to name it."

"I guess that explains why you don't shout 'Moon Power' or something before you attack the bad guy," Mina says without thinking.

Sana snickers. "Tell you what. Once you get some powers of your own, you can name yours _and_ mine. Okay?"

"Um, okay," says Mina. "But don’t expect me to actually get any, ever."

"Why not? It's already right here, silly." Sana throws an arm over Mina's shoulder and pulls the younger girl close, resting her ear just below Mina's left collarbone. "I can even hear it."

And Mina thinks, over the sudden rush of blood to her face, that if the strength of her power is directly related to how much her heart wants to burst out of her rib cage,

She might just be able to save the world.)

**Author's Note:**

> I need more Twice on my twitter so come find me @moonrise31


End file.
